Monday, February 26, 2007

James Cameron, director of Titanic and creator of Terminator and True Lies is holding a press conference today in New York City to announce that he's got DNA evidence that shows one of the bodies in the Talpiyot Tomb is that of Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph.

Discovery Channel will air Cameron's 90 minute documentary on this discovery on March 4th.

According to Cameron, there are six boxes, inscribed in Hebrew, Latin or Greek, bearing the names: Yeshua [Jesus] bar Yosef [son of Joseph]; Maria [the Latin version of Miriam, which is the English Mary]; Matia [the Hebrew equivalent of Matthew, a name common in the lineage of both Mary and Joseph]; Yose [the Gospel of Mark refers to Yose as a brother of Jesus]; Yehuda bar Yeshua, or Judah, son of Jesus; and in Greek, Mariamne e mara , meaning 'Mariamne, known as the master.' Mariamne was Mary Magdalene's real name. (The boxes were taken from a 2,000-year-old cave discovered in 1980 during excavation for a housing project in Talpiyot, south of Jerusalem.)

So here's the rub: If Cameron is correct, the bone boxes, and the DNA found inside, is the first archeological evidence of the existence of the Christian savior. But given that Christianity was founded on the belief that

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. (Nicene Creed)

what proves Jesus lived (which neither Jewish faith or Islam denies--they simply deny that he was the Messiah or the Son of God), then invalidates the entire Christian faith. Faith being the operative word here . It's all been taken on Faith. We can't prove that Jesus lived. We can't prove he was born of a Virgin. We cannot prove He rose from the dead. We simply believe. And for those who believe, this won't provide compelling evidence to debunk the Christian faith. We'll continue to believe. Whether Jesus' body ascended with His Spirit doesn't invalidate His teachings any more than evolution does.

But not every one will see it that way. Remember the hullabaloo over The DaVinci Code? The work of fiction? How about the fury over Darwin? That's nothing compared to DNA evidence that supposedly proves Jesus did not bodily ascend. Thousands of angry Christians will be burning their Titanic DVDs, boycotting Avatar and calling for a Constitutional Amendment to ban Canadian born film directors from working in the US.

If nothing else, Cameron will provide us with weeks, maybe months of great entertainment, watching the apoplexy of the Fundamentalists.

2 comments:

If just the spirit ascends, and not the body, the aftermath of the rapture for us sinners and atheists (hey! I'm two for two there!) will be gross. Not just the rise of the anti-christ and the tribulations, but we'll have to be constantly stepping over the jello-like husks of the saved.